Here are some stories from members with differing priorities that could help you think about your own.
You will need to consider your priorities and what you want out of retirement. Who do you need to provide for? How is your health?
In order to help you in making your decision, we have placed the main considerations for you and these can be found here.
Meet Sally
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Very active and in good health
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Sufficient income every month for her lifestyle
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Decides to keep her increasing pension
For Sally and her husband Jim, looking forward to a predictable week is their idea of perfection. They are both very active and in good health. There is always time for trips to the cinema, local cafes and both of them love playing golf.
They are very fortunate to have sufficient income coming in each month that more than matches their lifestyle.
Sally decided not to avail of the PIE offer and instead chose to retain her increasing pension as she does not have a need for additional short-term income and values the fact that increases in her pension should maintain its purchasing power in the future.
Meet Harry
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Loves to travel and visit his family abroad
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Savings are getting low due to expensive flights
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Wants to keep travelling while he can
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Decides to accept the increased flat pension
Harry likes nothing better than to seize the day. He lost his wife a few years ago, his daughter is now settled in Canada with her children and his son lives in Australia. Harry misses his family and likes to visit as much as he can but flights are expensive and he has been eating into his savings over the past couple of years.
Harry decided to accept the increased flat pension available under the PIE offer. He knows that as the years go by, the purchasing power of his new increased pension will decrease but he’d prefer to take the additional income now so he can travel while he is still fit and well. He thinks that in a few years’ time he might have a bad hip or a dodgy back and the thought of travelling to Australia or Canada would fill him with dread!
Meet Privani
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Set up her own business in retirement
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In remission from her illness but life expectancy has shortened
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Decides to accept the increased flat pension
After retiring from her job, Privani finally fulfilled her dream of opening her own small business, with her daughter Rina. Everything was going well until she received her diagnosis. She is now in remission but is very aware that her life expectancy has been shortened.
Privani decided to accept the increased pension. Unfortunately, the promise of a pension increasing with inflation is no longer a priority for Privani and she is happy to receive the increased income in the short-term arising from the higher flat pension available under the PIE offer.
Meet Padraig
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Poor health and takes lots of medication
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Really appreciates his medical card and doesn’t want to lose it
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Decides to keep his increasing DB pension
Padraig’s health has been poor since he left work and he’s on a lot of medication. His GP is happy with his progress and he really values his medical card.
Even though he’s not in great health, he has decided to keep his existing increasing DB pension. If he accepts the increased flat pension available under the PIE offer, his total income would exceed the medical card income threshold. Padraig has calculated that the increased medical costs would be higher than the increase he would receive in his pension under the PIE offer.
